Pages: 2 - 18Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 2-18, February 2018. Purpose Anecdotal evidence shows that a number of military personnel have been appointed as board members by listed firms in Indonesia. Taking advantage of the unique setting of the strong influence of the military in Indonesian politics, the purpose of this paper is to provide direct empirical evidence on the effect of military connections on interest rate for listed firms in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 1,818 firm-year observations of firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2004 to 2012 and employs Heckman’s two-stage regression and Coarsened Exact Matching methods to address endogeneity concerns on the firms’ establishment of military connections. Findings The finding reveals that connected firms significantly enjoy lower interest rates on debt than non-connected ones. These findings are robust to several robustness checks. Research limitations/implications The results of this study should be treated with caution since the proxy of military connections limited only based on board connections. Hence, this may underestimate the results from this study. This research has implications for Indonesia’s regulators who are striving to improve accounting information and transparency of militarily connected firms. Originality/value The results of this study add to the literature that connected firms enjoy preferential benefits provided by the connections through lower interest charges from banks.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:06ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-07-2016-0086

Pages: 19 - 38Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 19-38, February 2018. Purpose Due to its technical focus, the introductory accounting course has a hierarchical knowledge structure that requires students to master and integrate abstract knowledge which builds on itself over time. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between engagement and examination performance for students enrolled in a hierarchically structured course. Design/methodology/approach This research involves a retrospective study of an introduction to accounting course examining the relationship between increased engagement and examination performance. Students are provided opportunities for engagement through assigned homework and optional ungraded assignments. Performance is measured by scores on each of three examinations conducted throughout the semester. Findings The study finds that additional engagement in assignments has no significant impact on mid-semester examination performance; however, sustained engagement throughout the semester has a cumulative impact on final examination performance. Moreover, students that perform well on mid-semester examinations do not benefit from additional engagement, whereas students that perform poorly on the mid-semester examinations exhibit substantially higher final examination scores from sustained engagement. Practical implications This study illustrates the complex interplay between engagement and performance and the timing of performance gains. The implication for educators is that increased sustained engagement is likely to result in increased but delayed student performance gains in disciplines with hierarchical knowledge structures. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in its examination of the timing of performance benefits gained from increased engagement in courses with a cumulative knowledge base.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:15ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-03-2017-0036

Pages: 39 - 61Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 39-61, February 2018. Purpose By using Latour’s notion of “action at a distance” (Latour, 1987), the purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which the government acts at a distance to achieve corporate governance of public sector banks, and the extent to which accounting enables such actions of the government. Design/methodology/approach This study follows the qualitative research approach and adopts the case study research method. A major public sector bank in Sri Lanka was selected as the case organization for this study. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with organizational participants and document study. Findings The study provides evidence to suggest that inscriptions produced through four areas of accounting, namely external reporting, external auditing, management accounting and internal auditing, have the capacity to develop strong explanations enabling action at a distance and good corporate governance in the case organization. The study also provides evidence to show how the role of accounting in long-distance control and corporate governance in the case organization is influenced by various contextual factors. In particular, the study finds that undue government interference over the case organization to gain the long-distance control have resulted in deteriorating the level of corporate governance. Research limitations/implications The findings support the literature that examines the accounting in its social context. Practical implications The findings suggest that actors should be allowed to operate independently, particularly without political expedience and undue influences from pressure groups, which ensure effective utilization of accounting inscriptions by the actors in long-distance control as well as good corporate governance of public sector banks. Originality/value Although research into accounting in public sector organizations has gained considerable importance in recent times, those studies examining public sector banks are still lacking. The paper aims to fill this gap.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:08ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-03-2017-0053

Pages: 62 - 83Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 62-83, February 2018. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between firm performance and product market competition (PMC), and then examine the mitigation effect of corporate governance and/or state-ownership (SOEs) in the association between PMC and firm performance using Chinese listed firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors consider three determinants of the PMC that affect the nature of competition, and use market concentration, product substitutability and market size as proxies for PMC. The authors construct a corporate governance index which measures the extent of board independence, monitoring strength of supervisory board over board of directors, and monitoring strength of board of directors over CEO. The authors use Tobin’s Q as a proxy for firm performance. The authors use a sample of 20,706 firm-year observations listed on the Chinese stock market between 2001 and 2016 to empirically investigate the research questions proposed in the paper. Findings The authors find that higher PMC is associated with lower firm performance. The authors find that good corporate governance practices moderate the negative effect of higher PMC on firm performance. The association between higher PMC and lower performance is weaker for firms controlled by SOEs compared to non-SOEs. Further, the moderation effect of SOEs on the association between higher PMC and lower performance is more pronounced for firms with good corporate governance practices compared to firms with weak corporate governance practices. Originality/value Extant studies investigating the relationship between PMC and corporate governance suggest an either complementary or substitution relationship in developed economies. Our study highlights the interactive role played by SOEs and good corporate governance practices in firm performance in highly competitive product markets in an emerging economy. The findings provide insightful information to regulators of other emerging countries that SOEs with good corporate governance practices can play an important role in the economy by mitigating the negative effect of higher PMC on firm performance.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:04ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-05-2017-0080

Pages: 84 - 106Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 84-106, February 2018. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether proxies considered under ex ante uncertainty hold true under a fixed price mechanism structure. In particular, the study examines whether pre-initial public offering (IPO) financial performance, measured by Altman Z-score, can serve as a proxy for ex ante uncertainty or signalling in an IPO market where a fixed price mechanism is used to determine the offer price. Design/methodology/approach This study uses solely ex ante information available to prospective investors prior to the IPO to proxy for ex ante variables. It also applies a more sophisticated and robust approach using quantile regression (QR) technique in addition to ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Applying the QR technique allows the study to produce estimates for the conditional quantiles of the distribution of IPO initial returns and address the violations of basic assumptions of the standard OLS technique. Findings The results show that for ex ante variables, such as IPORISK, company size, the Altman Z-score measure of pre-IPO performance, audit quality and the technology industry, are significantly related to IPO initial returns. However, the relationship differs across the conditional quantiles of the distribution of IPO initial returns, which would not have been recognised using standard OLS. However, the sign of the coefficients shown by some of these variables contradicts the ex ante uncertainty hypothesis assumption, but they are found to have predictive power in explaining IPO initial returns. These findings reveal unique characteristics of the IPO process and investors in Malaysia. Most importantly, the Altman Z-score is found to be significant in the lower and upper quantiles, but insignificant around the median quantile, which implies that Altman Z-score is important for IPOs with low and high initial returns. Research limitations/implications These findings suggest that theoretical explanations of the ex ante uncertainty hypothesis cannot be generalised across financial markets, particularly in the Malaysian IPO market where fixed price offerings are common, and investors are risk averse, whereby they avoid risky IPOs, and prefer to take a small amount of returns against high risks. In addition, the composition of the companies in the market is not as large as the developed markets. This implies that the share price of the IPO may be sensitive to other disclosures in the prospectus, market sentiments or financial news. This study recommends the need for more empirical evidence for this purpose by including other important proxies of ex ante uncertainty, such as the use of IPO proceeds and risk factors that are disclosed in the prospectus to test whether the ex ante uncertainty hypothesis holds true in Malaysia. Originality/value This study fulfils the need for finding an appropriate theory that better explains IPO initial returns in the Asian IPO market by focussing exclusively on the pre-IPO information available in the prospectus. It also sheds light on important selected pre-listing information.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:21ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-11-2016-0133

Pages: 107 - 130Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 107-130, February 2018. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the relationships among environmental performance (EP), environmental disclosure (ED), and financial performance (FP) (three corporate constructs) using data from Newsweek’s green rankings. Design/methodology/approach Previous studies document mixed results about the relations among the three constructs. A firm’s overall management strategy may affect the three constructs simultaneously; therefore, the interrelationships among EP, ED, and FP were jointly examined. A simultaneous equations approach was used to test the hypothesis. Findings The three-stage least square (3SLS) estimation results show a negative relationship between EP and FP and a positive relationship between EP and ED, suggesting that financially successful firms are less likely good environmental performers but green firms are more likely to disclose their EP. Research limitations/implications Since the sample firms examined in this study are US large-size companies, the results found in this paper may not apply to small- and/or medium-size firms or to companies in other countries. Practical implications Three corporate constructs are jointly correlated with each one. A firm’s overall strategic plan on environmental engagement is likely reflected in how it engages in each of the constructs that affect costs and benefits. Sustainable efforts, in short term, may put firms at risk. Companies may need to take a long-term perspective when cutting costs is curtailed. Originality/value The research contributes to the ED and EP literature by using a 3SLS simultaneous equation method and analyzing a more recent and comprehensive multi-industry data. By controlling industry effect, the research investigates the interrelationships among three corporate constructs and finds interesting results. An interpretation and discussion are provided.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:21:49ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-01-2016-0010

Pages: 131 - 152Abstract: Asian Review of Accounting, Volume 26, Issue 1, Page 131-152, February 2018. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether regulatory restriction on executive compensation in Chinese state-owned enterprises is beneficial to firm performance. The authors also examine the role of monitoring mechanisms in offsetting the effect of compensation restriction. Design/methodology/approach Multivariate analysis is conducted using archival data from Chinese listed companies over the period of 2007-2014. Findings The findings show that the restriction on executive compensation is negatively associated with a firm’s accounting performance, and this negative effect is ameliorated in firms with good internal control and a high level of institutional shareholding. Additional analysis reveals that the negative effect of pay restriction on firm performance is more pronounced in central government-controlled listed SOEs than in those controlled by local government. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate a government’s say-on-pay policy. Specifically, the findings pinpoint the inefficacy of regulatory intervention in corporate executive compensation. The findings add to compensation literature using China’s unique institutional setting.Citation: Asian Review of AccountingPubDate: 2018-01-02T01:22:07ZDOI: 10.1108/ARA-07-2016-0080